Fool's Gold
by Passiona
Summary: A curious child, that's what she was." -- No major pairings unless requested, follows an OC as she enters the lives of the Mains. Big plot. All cannons are written with their original personalities. Post-Chuunin Exams.
1. A not so normal entrance

A salt soaked figure walked close to the group of masked ANBU. Her wet clothes were sticking unfashionably to her skin, revealing how unhealthy her frame was. She had the gaunt appearance of an underfed mouse: Bones sticking out every which way. She carried with her only three objects. In her right hand she clutched two gold coins, identical in appearance. In her left, a purple shell was hidden beneath her fingers, clenched into a tight fist. The girl's mouth was open, and, gasping like a fish, her chest heaved as if the air around her did not hold enough oxygen. Her iron-gray hair lay in two long pigtails on either side of her face. Weighed down with water, they were as straight as boards. Water seemed to be everywhere. Droplets of it were scattered across her pale brow, and beneath them, her eyes were the same gray as her hair.

The party moved slowly down the deserted street. It was a very bright morning, though by the dreary appearance of the group, it might as well have been raining.

As one might have guessed, this was not a normal scene in the village of Konoha. And as abnormal as it was, there was one thing that made it truly disturbing. Despite looking only half alive, the girl wore a chronic smile. It was faint, but present. Though it did not appear to be a smile of happiness. In fact, it looked as if she were quite insane. To add to this, even though she was out of breath, the girl was hum-singing a song. A song where there didn't seem to be any words, or even a real tune, yet it continued as flawlessly as time itself. And all the while that smile lingered.

The ANBU stopped, as did she. Gently they steered her towards a bench where she sat lightly down. One kneeled before her, and though he was wearing a mask, you would guess that he would be smiling warmly.

"What's your name?" His voice came muffled from behind the mask, and it lost much of its personality in the process.

The girl's smile widened, and she responded in a hoarse voice,

"Kinko".

Water dripped to the ground, and the silence following her answer was so complete, every drop could be heard.


	2. Questions

"What were your parents doing?"

"Searching."

"Can you tell me what for?"

"Myself."

"Did you runaway?"

"No."

"But your parents were looking for you?"

"They lost me."

"Your parents lost you?"

"Yes, I left them."

"But you didn't run away."

"I left them."

A faint smile, dead eyes.

It was two days after Kinko's arrival at the Village Hidden in the Leaves with the group of ANBU. Both of those days had been filled with drawn-out questioning just like this, and each session ended with a stumped questioner and a smiling Kinko. No one could quite figure out what the girl was talking about, despite the constant conversations professionals had with her, The Hokage might have left the matter be if the girl's parents hadn't been top notch Jounin. Two Jounin didn't just up and die like this. It just did not happen. Not on accident. The majority if those involved in this particular case thought that murder was the cause of their untimely end, but the their bodies had never been recovered; so the only proof their could be of this was their daughter, Kinko. But it was starting to look like getting information from her was next to impossible. The questioner might as well have been talking to his shoe for all the straight answers he received.

After this last session of questioning, the questioner himself approached Tsunade, shaking his head at the Hokage.

"No progress I assume," she asked, sighing irritably. When he responded "no", she placed the tips of her index fingers on each temple and rubbed. "I have half a mind to go and force it out of her. Tsunade smiled grimly while the questioner blinked in surprise. "Eh, better not. There are always more sophisticated ways, aren't there?" She asked, giving a wry smile.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, nodding once. "Still… It is rather annoying trying to get information from a kid who's half insane, if not completely." She laughed at her own little joke, sparing a glance in Kinko's direction.

"Ma'am?"

"Forget about it. We're done for today. Tell her," Tsunade nodded in Kinko's direction, "to go home."

"Home", was really just a small apartment attached to the Hokage's main building, but it served its purpose as residence well.

The questioner nodded once more and walked back to Kinko, leaving Tsunade to her own thoughts.

_This girl is beginning to be a problem. _She thought, one hand on her chin and eyes darkening as she was thinking about it. _I'm going to have to do something about this. She's already cost me about a month's worth of paperwork no doubt._ Tsunade held back a groan at this thought. Shizune would probably force her to do it too. _Great…_She thought miserably, walking out of the room and back to her office, hoping not to meet Shizune on the way there.

"Kinko." The question spoke gently, tapping the girl's shoulder lightly. She turned and gazed at him with her dead gray eyes. _This girl is unnerving. _He thought, shivers sliding through his arms as he retracted his hand away from her. Since she said nothing in reply, he continued. "Lady Tsunade says you can go home now. Okay?"

Still no reply.

"Well…" He stated awkwardly, "lets go then."

She stood and followed him out in silence. When they reached the place where she was staying, the questioner opened the door and she walked in a few steps. Kinko turned and looked at him. They stared at each other for several moments through the doorway, until the questioner could no longer take the pressure of her gaze.

He closed the door in her face and retreated quickly, not looking back once.

Kinko remained standing where she was, looking steadily at the door. A smile began to flicker in her lips and then it grew, and grew, and grew, until finally she stood there, grinning from ear to ear. As she stood smiling at nothing, a creamy substance began to slide towards the door, and slither up it. After only a few moments the entire door was covered in it. The substance was hard, and almost pure white. It looked like the door had turned into some sort of flat shell. Actually, that is exactly what had happened, and Kinko acted as if it were nothing. In fact, she remained standing in the exact same place, with the same smile and dead eyes.

That is, until she opened her lips.

"The air chimes."

She is smiling.


	3. The Sinister

The clouds raced overhead as the wind screamed past the ears of the group traveling through the village. Their capes were pulled high to protect as much of their faces as possible from the biting wind, and the fabric of said capes was the blackest of black. As the party traveled down the street, doors would close at their presence. Word seemed to spread down as well, for more and more doors were closing ahead of them as well as beside them. Finally, not a single open door could be spotted. But this did not bother the group of men. In fact, not one glance had been spared for the closing doors on their part. They were not interested in the pathetic fears of the townspeople. Only one person interested them right now, and she was not behind any of those doors.

The two leaders walked close together, heads bowed as they conversed in low whispers, muffled by their dark cloaks.

"Ahead?"

"Hai."

"We know for sure this time?"

"Hai."

"You remember what happened last time, right."

Silence.

"We cannot risk that again."

His companion faltered a step than sent a dark glare in the other's direction. His face was narrow, with many scars covering its surface. In the center of his forehead was a minute green triangle, raised slightly from the surrounding skin.

"Do not assume that I am so foolish as to repeat the last incident." His eyes glinted below narrowed brows at this statement.

"M- my apologies, sir." The second man stammered, "It won't happen again, I assure you." His face turned white, and he too bore a triangle, though it had an even smaller red dot in the center of it.

"I hope not, for your sake. This mission is more important than the life of one man. You of all people should know this." He grinned maliciously and looked away from his cowering companion.

The second man was silent at the glare, though he gulped in realization of his words. He knew exactly what he was hinting at.

The first person stopped, which halted all those behind him and the one beside.

"Listen up," he said in a growlish voice. At this, the entire group looked up, revealing their facial features. All had green triangles, and a few, like the second man, had red dots in the center of them. These seemed to always send nervous glances at those surrounding them, as if unsure of their safety. Yet every person there listened with rapt attention as the first man continued to speak.

"My friend here has just reminded me of our last attempt. You all recall that, correct?"

More nervous glances by those with the red spots. They seemed to quake at his words.

"Well, I would like to assure you all that certain steps will be taken to prevent this from happening again.

A hard glint was in his eyes now, and the entire group shifted under his gaze.

"You will be informed of these steps when we approach our goal."

Not a single soul questioned his words. Not one. There were only nods and scattered replies of "hai sir."

"Now then," he said, turning back around and continuing his march, followed by the rest.

Despite the chilling speech, his followers seemed even more determined to reach their goal. Every pair of eyes stared determinedly ahead, and every footfall was solid, sure of its destination.

The wind blew harder and the group exited the village, heading due north.

The closed doors did not begin to open until the party was just a speck on the horizon. And even then only the bravest poked their heads cautiously out. After a few minutes, the only sign that the group had been there was the silence. Most of the townspeople were out now, but they did not speak. Instead they stood scattered around the square, giving each other glances every now and then as if to say, "something's up."

And it was.


	4. A Change of Pace

I would like to apologize for how slow the plot seems to be moving. I promise that it _will_ get better, and I beg your patience, especially with grammar and spelling mistakes. I have not had a chance to go and fix anything. Oh, and more of a time setting: This is AFTER the Chuunin Exams, but Sasuke has not left, and Lee has made a full recovery already o0'

Lets see…. Reviews would be nice, since I haven't received any yet. But even if I don't get any, I will continue to write the fanfiction, because, well, this one really makes me excited xD Enjoy chapter four: **"A Change of Pace"**

"I don't see why she wants me to do this. She said I was going to get a mission…" He thought angrily, hands shoved in his pockets in a moody fashion.

"Hrmph. Well, some mission!" The statement was yelled at the top of his lungs with no care about who heard it, or who got mad about the noise. After all, it would be _better _if someone heard it, than he wouldn't have to deal with his misfortune all by himself. The boy grinned, revealing a more carefree side, rather than the grouchy one shown previously.

As you might have already guessed, this was Naruto Uzumaki, at his antics again. Tsunade had sent him on a little "mission", which turned out to be less than thrilling. All he had to do was go and get someone. What fun…

"Why couldn't she have done this herself? It's not like she's _doing _anything," Naruto muttered, still talking to himself. He would know after all. Hadn't it been _him _who had brought her back? He knew her ways. _Especially_ with duties like paperwork. She hated it.

"So while she's off relaxing I'm doing her petty work!"

There seemed to be no end to his misery.

Still grumbling, the shinobi approached the entrance to the house where the girl was said to live.

"It's not even that far from her office," he sighed reaching up to knock on the door. He tapped three times then waited. And waited. He stood in front of the door, hands in pockets, leaning slightly back with his eyes closed. This was a common position he went into.

After several moments, he opened one eye to look at the door. No one had come to answer him. Puzzled, he knocked again, both eyes open now. He waited, and when there was no reply he looked down both hallways to his left and right then quickly opened the door and entered; closing the door behind him silently.

The building seemed devoid of life, and the only movement was that of a few strands of string tied to the top of an open window. Naruto could feel the warm breeze course through the house, but he ignored it. 

"Hello?"

His voice echoed emptily in the barren structure. "Hmm…" He scratched his head, which was covered with a spiky mess of yellow hair. A quick glance around told him he was utterly alone, so he started to explore a bit.

Everything seemed to be in order. In fact, it was a bit _too_ neat. His own apartment was a jumbled mess. It was one thing to be clean, but it didn't even look like someone was living there. "Maybe Tsunade was wrong," he said aloud. _"Wouldn't be the first time!" _Naruto grinned at the thought, and, putting his hands behind his head, he turned with his eyes closed once again. Upon turning, he opened his eyes to slits, then completely. He stopped suddenly, for he realized he was no longer alone. 

Just inches from his own face, was another. They stared at each other. His large blue eyes looking into her gray ones. Several silent moments stretched between them, making the situation extremely awkward. After awhile, Naruto did a little back-jump-step to escape the closeness. "Err….." The blond shinobi fidgeted in discomfort. "Are you Kinko-chan…?"

The girl nodded in reply, a small smile beginning to form on her lips.

"Oh, um great…. Well…" He forced himself to look straight at her, despite how difficult it was.

"Tsunade wants to see you," he blurted out, keeping eye contact with her. She nodded again, and the strange smile widened. "Okay, lets go then," Naruto said, inching around her and exiting. He had recovered from his initial shock and felt well enough to act as he normally did.

Kinko followed him silently, listening to him speak as they walked down the hall. He was in front as she hovered slightly behind. This unfortunately only gave Naruto reason to speak even more loudly than usual.

"So Kinko-chan, you must be important or something if Granny-Tsunade wants to talk to you…"

Silence and smiling.

"Actually, come to think of it, I don't remember ever seeing you around." Naruto looked up thoughtfully, trying to recall a time when he'd seen her; none came to mind. "Hm. Well, you must have come from somewhere else. Did you?"

"Yes," she said quietly. Her voice was soft, but it seemed to vibrate. It was by no means weak sounding.

"Oh. Well, where did you come from?"

"Here."

"But you just said…"

"A different Here."

Naruto was now utterly confused, and didn't know how to reply to this, so, he stayed quiet; a very uncommon thing for the young boy to do.

They traveled the rest of the way in silence, both wrapped up in their own thoughts until they reached the Hokage's office. "Here we are." Naruto said rather cheerfully, despite his previous confusion.

"Yes," was her reply. She remained standing before the door, staring at the wood, her gaze unmoving.

Once again silence was between them for several moments, creating an awkward atmosphere.

"Aren't you going in?"

No reply.

"Look, Tsunade might be crazy sometimes but she isn't going to bite. Just go on in."

When she showed no sign of entering, Naruto sighed noisily and opened the door himself. Grabbing Kinko's arm he dragged her in. "Granny Tsunade!"

She looked up from her desk and blinked at the spectacle before her.

"Granny Tsunade, you wanted her here?" Naruto asked, letting go of Kinko's arm and pointing his thumb in her direction.

"Yes Naruto, thank you for that."

"Yeah, well whatever," he replied grumpily and turned to leave.

"Wait, Naruto!"

"Hm?"

"Stay here a moment, this involves you too."

"_Oh, _now_ what does she want?"_

Tsunade sighed irritably, "don't worry Naruto, you can handle it, just think of it as…. A mission."

"Oh no, not again!"

"Just be quiet and hear me out," she said angrily, rising from her chair.

"Fine," Naruto said in a tone that made it obvious that it was certainly _less_ than fine by him.

"Okay, here's the deal. Naruto, you know Kinko now and she knows you. Kinko had a bit of… an accident that has left some… damage. She's already a genin but—"

"What!"

"Naruto!"

The scolding caused him to settle down a bit, but he sent a confused look in Kinko's direction anyways. But she either ignored it, or did not see his look for she did not so much as glance in his direction.

"Anyways… She's already a genin, but because of the accident, I have decided that she will be returning to the academy for a short period of time."

"What accident are you—"

"That is not important right now," Tsunade interjected, ignoring his frustrated appearance. "Just do what I tell you. Now, please escort Kinko to the academy. You know the way."

"Yeah yeah…"

Tsunade motioned for them both to go. Kinko exited and Naruto followed her.

"Naruto! Don't even _think_ about asking her—"

"Yes, I know!" He was already rushing off.

"Naruto!"

But he was already gone, holding Kinko's arm again and racing down the steps into the streets of Konoha. 

After awhile, he slowed his pace and released her arm. She followed suite and soon they were walking in the same fashion as they had going to Tsunade's office. Only this time they walked in complete silence. 

A few minutes later, after keeping the silence they approached the academy. It was relatively early in the morning, so classes were not yet in session. But Iruka would be there no doubt, preparing for the day's lesson. "Hello! Iruka-Sensei?" 

Naruto entered the building with Kinko close behind him.

"Oh, good morning Naruto. I wasn't expecting to see you here today…" He gave Naruto a puzzled look before spotting Kinko behind him. "Oh, I see." Iruka nodded and smiled, motioning her to come forward, which she did. "So you must be Kinko."

She nodded.

"Tsunade told me you would be arriving."

No motion.

"Well, class hasn't started yet, but you're welcome to stay here until they do."

She nodded once more.

"Thank you for bringing her here, Naruto."

"Oh, it was no problem, Iruka-Sensei," he grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I guess I should go… I think Kakashi-Sensei wanted to train today…"

"Well, you better get going then," Iruka smiled.

"Yup, okay, see you later Iruka-Sensei!"

And with that he turned to go, leaving Iruka and Kinko alone in the room. He glanced back only to see Iruka absorbed in the papers strewn over his desk, and Kinko sitting alone in the back of the classroom. Right before Naruto was going to turn away again, Kinko looked over at him. Her stare might as well have been a thrown kunai knife. It was so piercing, and yet cold. Empty of all emotion.

A shudder went through him and he forcefully turned away, making his legs carry him off. 

But as he walked away, he could still feel her stare, boring into the back of his head.


	5. And That's That

I would like to personally thank those of you who replied

I would like to personally thank those of you who replied. This really helps with my enthusiasm in writing this story. Again, I feel the need to tell all you readers to hang in there. The plot reveals itself more fully in these next few chapters and everything will be made clear. Especially the reasons for Kinko's personality, or "lack-of", as some of you might be thinking right now. I must inform you that I am not the best writer, nor do I own Naruto. If I did, well, life would be just fantastic would it not? Also, more canon (from the show) characters will be entering the story and I promise to stay as true to their original personalities as I can. 

A Note: This story is not being written for the purpose of "pairing up" any of the characters. There will be a few hints of characters having feelings for each other, but I repeat, no full-blown romance will be included.

A Second Note: I don't swear. So, if that's what you're looking for you will be sadly disappointed. I _am_ aware that some of the characters swear, but this will be replaced with something less coarse. Yes, this can be considered making them "OOC", but there is no promise that these characters will even be written into the story. And if I decide to put them in, well, I'm sorry for choosing not to use the language.

Please enjoy chapter five: **And That's That**

"Sakura-chan!"

The yell reverberated around the nearly empty clearing, though the caller ignored his noise level, as he normally did.

Both Sakura and Sasuke looked over at the blond ninja as he raced towards them. Neither seemed overjoyed by his arrival. In fact, they both took several steps back.

Moments later it was revealed why: Naruto was going at such a reckless pace that he was unable to properly stop himself. He ended up swinging his arms unfashionably to lose speed, and nearly feel flat on his face in the process. Instead, he staggered to a stop right where his teammates had been standing only moments before.

Not even waiting for his breath to return to a more normal rate, Naruto went into a rushed explanation to where he had been.

"Sorry I'm late, Granny-Tsunade wanted me to do something and I thought it was a mission, but it really wasn't… Anyways, I had to bring this girl to the academy. Boy was she weird, I mean, you wouldn't believe how weird she was. I wonder why that is… And she's a little _old_ to be going to the academy… Wonder what that 'accident' was…"

The onslaught of his voice finally quieted and he looked up thoughtfully, musing on his final question.

Sakura and Sasuke stared at him, having hardly understood a word he said.

"Naruto, what are you talking about," Sakura asked in that scolding voice so commonly used by her.

"Yeah, slow down loser."

This second comment was obviously made by Sasuke, the most sullen of the group. He smiled haughtily at Naruto as the boy scowled in reply, face crunched up and eyes closed.

The kunoichi spoke again.

"Don't worry about being late though, Kakashi-Sensei cancelled the training session."

"What?"

"Yeah. Something came up and a bunch of the Jounin were needed for some reason."

"Weird…"

"Mhmm. And the only reason _we're_ still here is that we had to tell _you_. So explain why you were late, and this time, say it so we can understand you."

Sasuke sighed irritably and moved his gaze away from his teammates. He was not all that interested in what Naruto had to say.

The spiky-haired ninja took a deep breath and retold the story, ignoring Sasuke completely.

Though as the tale progressed, Sasuke began to inch his eyes in their direction. And though he would never admit it, he was slightly intrigued.

"So this girl… Kinko? She had some sort of accident and has to go to the academy even though she's already a genin?" Sakura was speaking again.

"Yup," was Naruto's reply.

"Wow, I feel sorry for her. But you know, it's sort of strange."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's a genin right?"

"Yeah…?"

"So you'd think we'd have seen her around more, especially if she's around our age like you said. I mean, she can't have graduated too long from us."

Naruto nodded throughout this explanation, his eyes closed as usual.

"I see what you mean Sakura-chan."

Silence stretched between the group now.

"Hey, we can go ask her ourselves" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, brightening up considerably

"Oh no, Naruto. You just said she was at the academy. Classes have already started. Do you really want to interrupt Iruka-Sensei?"

"Oh, he won't mind, you worry too much Sakura-chan."

"I think she's right," Sasuke said, speaking up for the first time since Naruto's story began. His voice was deep and rather uncaring, though his black eyes gleamed under his bangs.

Naruto ignored his comment and continued to speak with Sakura.

"Come on, it will only take a couple of minutes and this is the only way we'll find out," he persisted, grinning widely.

The kunoichi glanced over at Sasuke, who had once again removed his gaze from them.

Sakura looked back over at Naruto, and suddenly her green eyes sparked with anger. "No way Naruto. Sasuke and I don't think it's a good idea, and that's that." She moved closer to the boy she had spoken of, though he ignored her movement.

"Fine," Naruto said, looking a bit disappointed, though recovering his happy mood soon after.

"Just don't come to me when you want to know!"

And with that he was gone, jumping into the nearest tree and leaping away; leaving his teammates in silence.


	6. Sweet Curiosity

She was sitting in the back of the classroom

She was sitting in the back of the classroom. It all was familiar, and so she was calm, and the smile lingered on.

Kinko stared blearily forward as the man called Iruka went to stand before them. And it _was_ "them". Others, all younger than her, surrounded Kinko. But she did not mind.

"Now as many of you have probably noticed, we have a new student!"

His voice carried as if he had had much practice doing this sort of thing.

The students before him blinked and many turned towards Kinko.

She ignored their stares and continued to watch Iruka in a daze-like fashion.

But that daze was broken when she realized the man was motioning for her to stand.

Suddenly she seemed so much more fragile than before. Kinko normally appeared to be a force to be reckoned with. Or at least, she was able to confuse and frighten those she met.

But the girl had never been in a situation quite like this.

Slowly she began to rise, keeping her eyes forward, though they had a new gleam in them. It did not make them life-like, but it did give them sheen. They looked as hard as river stones.

She stared at Iruka, and he looked back. Several of the students coughed, but Kinko did not move.

The tension was mounting and the very air seemed to buzz.

"Well…?"

"Well," she replied, remaining motionless. She looked the same. Same smile, same eyes. Dead.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"No."

"Nani?!"

"No."

Iruka was confounded. He had never had a student say outright "no", to him. Even the worst student had _some_ respect. This was completely outrageous.

"_Please_ introduce yourself. Need I remind you who is the student?" This was all said with forced calm. Every student was watching with rapt attention. They had never dreamed that someone would go so far as the strange girl had.

Kinko watched Iruka for several moments before reacting to his statement.

"I am Kinko."

Her voice was soft and scratchy, which caused several of the students, and even Iruka to blink.

"Yes…? And…?"

Iruka was trying his best to smile warmly but those cold and oddly vacant eyes had not moved.

"Myself."

"Yourself?"

"Maijika"

"Thank you, Kinko. That will due for now," he said curtly, motioning her to take her seat.

The kunoichi sat down as quickly as she had stood up slowly. Her classmates blinked once more.

"As an extra little note," Iruka was now addressing the entire class, "Kinko, whom you have now all met, is a genin already."

There was whispering at this, which was quickly silenced by a stern look.

"And she will only be staying with us a short time."

More scattered whispering, which Iruka did not bother to put an end to. At least not right away.

After about a minute or so he called for attention.

"Now today we are not going to be using our books—"

The class started talking in excitement. The surprise about Kinko seemed long forgotten at this great news.

"Instead we will be practicing throwing kunai. Now that means we have to all go outside. Now, please follow me in an orderly line. _Orderly_."

His directions were ignored and every student jumped from his or her seat and rushed from the room.

Every student that is, except Kinko.

She slowly rose from her seat and took her sweet time in exiting.

Iruka stood beside the open door and waited for her to pass.

Once she did, he quickly closed the door and ushered the slower students (not many) towards the small training grounds. When they were all accounted for, Iruka began handing out the knives.

"Now as you all know, these are not toys. You all want to be genin right? So act like one and don't mess around."

This was the part of the school day when nearly every student shut his or her brain off. They knew the drill and his speech was not the most interesting. They had all heard it before.

The kids began to move towards the targets where they would practice throwing the kunai.

A few started right away, while others were more tentative about it.

Kinko was one of them. She held her knife with her right hand and trailed her left index finger along its handle. She stared unblinking at the midnight black weapon.

Beside the kunoichi were two boys and a girl who were using the target next to hers. She ignored them however, despite their closeness.

But the three could not stop glancing over at her.

At this moment they were whispering together, every now and then tossing a kunai casually at the target to maintain the image of hard work.

The orange-haired girl and the boy with glasses nudged the second boy forward.

After being pushed slightly, he moved towards Kinko, who ignored is approach.

"Go on, Konohamaru," the two in the back whispered as they gave him another little nudge.

"Yeah, okay," was his gruff reply.

In a daring move he walked the rest of the way towards Kinko and stood squarely before her.

"So…."

She ignored him once again.

"Okay lady, what are you doing here? Iruka-Sensei didn't make any sense. I mean, you're a genin, why are you here with us?"

Silence.

"Did you break a rule and they made you an academy student again?"

Silence.

The one called Konohamaru turned to his friends, a confused look on his face.

The two waved their hands, motioning for him to continue.

Konohamaru turned back to Kinko, though he shifted nervously when he realized that she had moved her gaze to him.

Her eyes reminded him of tombstones.

They were gray, hard, and lifeless. Utterly lifeless…

A shiver went up the boy's spine and he quickly looked down at his feet. He just couldn't meet her gaze for long.

"So umm," he muttered, talking more to his shoes than anything.

More silence on Kinko's part.

"So why are you here?" Konohamaru demanded, still staring downward.

"What Konohamaru is trying to say," interrupted the orange haired-girl as she stepped forward, followed by the boy with glasses.

"I can handle it, Moegi," Konohamaru muttered under his breath, but she ignored him.

"Well, it doesn't really look like it," she replied, crossing her arms.

"Anyway, what he's trying to say is that are you here because you need to touch up on your ninja skills?"

Kinko shook her head no, paused, then nodded yes.

This left the three children before her puzzled even more than before.

They returned to their own station and began to throw the knives in earnest, though they were silent in doing so; all were wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Several hours passed like mere moments, and before the class knew it Iruka had called for a lunch break.

There were several moans, sighs and general chattering at this, which soon quieted as the students scattered to start on their food.

Konohamaru and his friends headed towards a bench by one of the walls, mainly because a large tree shaded it entirely.

They did not notice, but Kinko had positioned herself around the corner of that very same wall. She had sat down with her back to it and had pulled out a jar of golden syrup. The kunoichi unscrewed the top and inserted her little finger into the contents. She stirred it, which caused a rich aroma to waft towards the three academy students seated not far from her.

Konohomaru sniffed at the air and a puzzled expression creased his features.

"What is it?" Both of his companions asked, noticing his change.

"I smell something. Something weird. It… it smells like..." He took another deep breath before continuing.

"Honey," Moegi said softly, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah…" Konohamaru sighed, nodding thoughtfully.

"What do you think it's from," asked Udon, using his index finger to push his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not sure. It could be someone's lunch, but I don't know of anyone who ever has honey." Konohamaru was already beginning to stand up while saying this.

"But there's only one way to find out," he said grinning widely.

"Oh Konohamaru do we have to? I mean, lunch is only so long, and you've barely even started," Moegi motioned toward his half eaten food lying abandoned on the bench.

"Yeah I'm sure," he replied, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Moegi sighed and stood up, soon followed by Udon.

"Lets go then," Moegi stated in a fashion that showed her negative opinion on the idea.

Slowly the three began to walk away from the bench, doing their best to "follow their noses".

However, it was relatively easy to follow the trail, since the smell of honey was thick in the air.

Because of this, it did not take long for the three friends to locate exactly where the smell was coming from.

Cautiously they poked their heads around the corner and spotted Kinko, still stirring the golden substance with her little finger.

Round and round and round again she moved it, seemingly unaware of her audience.

Konohamru, Udon and Moegi (Who had now forgotten her thoughts about leaving their lunches) watched with rapt attention as her finger made a circle again and again and again. Three pairs of eyes were fixated completely on her actions.

Finally after minutes of this Kinko lifted her finger from the jar, revealing that quite a lot of it was clinging to her finger.

Slowly she inserted it into her mouth, sucking on it with obvious relish.

Her eyes closed halfway and she seemed to have fallen into a dreamlike state.

For several minutes she stayed like this, until finally, every last bit of honey must have been satisfactorily consumed, for she removed her finger and placed it, once again, inside the jar.

She stirred.

The three watching her blinked at the odd spectacle and spared mere glances at each other, showing just how confused they were.

It was at that moment that Kinko turned her head in their direction, still stirring the honey.

All three of them froze at her glance as they felt the affects of her cold gaze. One by one they walked towards her, knowing that they had been spotted.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Konohamaru posed a question.

"Why do you eat honey like that? I mean, all plain like?"

Moegi and Udon nodded, showing that they were wondering the same thing.

The three friends waited for several moments for her to answer, and just when they thought that they had gotten into some sort of silent staring contest with the girl, she spoke.

"No salt."

Her answer left them speechless and Kinko turned back to stirring, and slowly eating the honey.

Its thick, sweet aroma hung in the air, overpowering the senses of the three classmates who stood before the strange girl.

And she stirred, and stirred, and stirred, completely mindless of the world around her.


End file.
